It's often said that fighting in the modern NBA is just pantomime that passes the time until the parties are separated by officials and teammates. If there's any player in the league still clinging to the genuine art form, it's Isaiah "Beef Stew" Stewart of the Detroit Pistons. I could see him taking part in a Malice in the Palace reenactment as a history enthusiast might for a Civil War battle. Clips of Stewart frequently circulate online, but he is rarely if ever holding a basketball in them.
Stewart proved his commitment to the fighting lifestyle back in 2021 when, as a 20-year-old sophomore, he attempted to charge the length of a basketball court to fight LeBron damn James, who had drawn blood with an elbow. Last season, Beef Stew was suspended three games after punching then-Suns center Drew Eubanks in the face. Over the past month alone, Stewart has squabbled with Russell Westbrook (who called him a "dumbass"), Myles Turner (whose Lego hobby Stewart doesn't care for), and the entire Orlando Magic (Paolo Banchero seemed unrepentant after Stewart needed his nose examined by a trainer). At this point, it seems like opposing players know that Stewart's easily provoked and do it for sport. He never lets them down.
During Wednesday night's 133-119 loss to the Pacers, Stewart decided boxing out was passé, and simply shoved opposing big man Thomas Bryant in what Shams Charania might refer to as "the neck area." Bryant fell over, took a minute to gather himself, and immediately wanted to fight, but was restrained by his teammates. Again, the modern NBA. The officials reviewed the foul, and Stewart was ejected for a flagrant 2. When he heard the ruling, he mimed shooting a gun.
"I slipped up, fell for the trap, and I let my teammates down," Stewart said after the game, via the Detroit News. "I have to be better at not letting those words allow me to affect the team. I know my squad could have used me out there tonight, and going forward, all they got for me is words. They don't have anything else."
That was Stewart's second flagrant 2 of the season; the first was in November, when he tried to yank an airborne Giannis Antetokounmpo by his jersey. Pacers big man Myles Turner, the target of Stewart's recent Lego slur, had a postgame retort already lined up. "You 'Played' Yourself," Turner wrote, attaching an image of a lifesize Lego version of him in a Darth Vader suit. Here's hoping that Beef Stew meditates on this arresting image for a minute and starts to chill out. There's no glory in being Draymond Green without the defense or passing.
